Nordic people? Bizarrely, one hears tales of two extremes. We're either batshit-crazy-berzerkers or emotional-as-granite-blocks) with very little in between. Most fellow-Nordics I've met are pretty impassive, but then I don't usually meet such people under stress-testing conditions so, when shite hits fan, who knows?

As for those who come from "short-tempered backgrounds" (I've spoken of some in the past: the guys causing most fights in a club coming from such-and-such a culture), there may be some cultures which don't put a premium on teaching their young the value of emotional self-control, especially in public.

That said however, there are plenty of individuals coming from such cultures who don't seem to "lose it" very easily, so one might conclude that it's individual characteristics, tempered by actual life-experience (rather than genetics or parental culture) that determine the length of anyone's fuse.

I before training I say a mantra "Leave your shoes, ego, and everything else in your life at the door. This is your hour to focus on training and improving," which tends to keep my mental state in check. If I do find myself getting angry/emotional I'll go into the restroom and take a couple breaths to calm down or sit out for a round.

If I still am not feeling mentally there I will just excuse myself from free rolling saying I'm not feeling it tonight. Never been a problem in with my training partners or instructors in the past.

If it gets to the point where I am angry and decide to spar, then the person probably deserved it. Most of the times it's better to be friendly and a team player with your training partners.

Hear hear! Whatever your martial art of choice if you have alive sparring and drilling it will inevitably be emotionally charged at times.

No matter which way you cut it you are learning to do violence to people and, when sparring and drilling, practising to do violence to people and to deal with having violence done to you. If you don't have much experience it would be easy to assume that martial arts training is all about learning how to dish it out, but in fact learning to cope with being on the receiving end and still being effective enough to come out on top is just as necessary. As a martial artist proceeds with their learning their coping skills will improve through a combination of desensitization and using mental buffers that work for them to keep them calm and focussed whilst being the focus of their opponent's attack.

Being the subject of aggression, though, is pretty psychologically uncomfortable and no matter how used to it you are nobody can expect to get it right 100% of the time. It's our responsibility to our training partners to manage this discomfort to avoid it turning from simulated 'we're-all-partners-here' aggression to REAL aggression, cos that's when people get injured and constructive learning goes down the tubes.

Like battlefields said:

Originally Posted by battlefields

I think controlling your temper in training is as much a part of training as the techniques. Anger clouds your vision. You can't fight if you can't see.

I haven't gotten angry to the point of snapping doing MA in a long time. Over 20 years in fact. I lost my temper with an asshat at a point tourney once and damaged my opponent's knee, purposely. I was disqualified and when I got back to the dojang I got an ass whooping I would not soon forget. It taught me to control my anger a lot better. Have I lost my temper off the mat? Absolutely! But then I go on the mat and it clears and settles me.